Battler Ushiromiya
is the protagonist of the Umineko no Naku Koro ni series. Much of the series follows his battle with Beatrice in which he attempts to prove that the murders on Rokkenjima, of which he himself is a victim, could be committed by humans. Battler is stubborn and doesn't believe in magic, preventing everyone from entering the Golden Land, during the events of Legend of the Golden Witch. While Beatrice vows to show Battler the errors of his ways, Battler vows to crush her; thus, beginning the fight between them. Along the way, new foes and allies enter the fray and, soon, Battler finds himself fighting over something even more precious: the truth behind Beatrice herself and the world she created. After surviving from the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident, he takes on the pen name, Tohya Hachijo, which he shares with Ikuko Hachijo. Appearance Battler appears as a young man with short, spiky, auburn hair parted to the side. He has a light skin complexion and has either blue (as seen in the anime, Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo and the portrait in Twilight of the Golden Witch and Symphony of Golden Dreams) or brown eyes (as seen in the original sound novels and in his portrait in Dawn of the Golden Witch). He appears to be quite a fascinating man with a slim body and is described as very tall. According to the sound novels, he is over 180 cm (5ft 11 inches) and is 10 cm taller than George. It has also been stated that in the past, he was of below average height. He wears a khaki suit with the Ushiromiya crest. Underneath this suit, he wears a black vest with a red long sleeved shirt with a black tie. After becoming the Endless and Golden Sorcerer, he appears with a black cape (similar to the cape Kinzo, or "Goldsmith", wears), symbolizing his position as the Game Master. In a flashback in Umineko: Majo to Suiri no Rondo, Battler's casual clothing consists of what seems to be a white jacket with a dark colored shirt underneath. In the anime, his casual clothing consists of a short-sleeved white shirt with a long-sleeved dark blue shirt underneath. In the manga, his casual clothing consists of a jacket, with a black shirt underneath with a metallic necklace. He also wears jeans with a chain on his left pocket. He also wears a typical Japanese highschool uniform. In Twilight of the Golden Witch, he ages and assumes shorter and white hair, less spikier than his original red hairdo and greatly resembles Kinzo when Kinzo was younger. He now wears a black khaki suit with a green tie and white shirt. Personality Although stubborn and hotheaded with the habit of flirting with young women, Battler is a very compassionate young man. However, he is also very emotional which is both his greatest strength and weakness, as while he refuses to acknowledge a witch to be the culprit, he also refuses to accept the fact the culprit is among the people he loves and mostly when he gets caught up in disproving Beatrice's magic, he forgets the most important question about the game: Why did Beatrice commit the murders? Battler also has a perpetual fear of 'shaky' transportation, thinking he might fall out. He is also shown to be intuitive and intelligent at certain situations, as he uses Kyrie's "flip the chessboard" mindset to predict his enemie's thoughts based on the situation at hand. Though he doesn't look like it, Battler also enjoys reading, mostly mystery, which explains his extensive knowledge on the subject. By Dawn of the Golden Witch, Battler’s personality makes an exceptionally drastic change compared to his former cheerful self. This is due to how he is unable to forgive himself for not remembering the sin, the reason that caused Beatrice in committing the murders, in time before she died, as well as how he indirectly caused the death of his sister, Ange Ushiromiya, during the Alliance of the Golden Witch. This change in personality ironically lead him to make the sixth game that still involved the murder of his family members, something which the once lighthearted Battler would be completely against. Background Battler was born to Kyrie, who at the time was Rudolf's mistress. But Rudolf switched Asumu's and Kyrie's children, and Battler legally became Asumu's child. Asumu raised him as if he were her own child. Growing up, he and his family attended the family conference once every year and befriended his cousins Jessica and George and the servant Shannon. The four of them often played together, but he became the most closest to Shannon, due to their mutual interest in mystery novels. The two of them became close enough that talking about mystery novels became an excuse for their secret meetings. At some point he may have had developed an interest in Shannon, and when he was twelve years old (probably in order to sound and look cool), he promised Shannon that when he returns in the next family conference, he will take her away from the island while r iding a white horse. However, when Asumu died, Rudolf immediately married Kyrie, who was pregnant with her child. Battler, in his grieving process, fought with his father and says to him that Asumu's death benefitted Rudolf so that he can be with Kyrie. He also tells Rudolf that since the unborn child is innocent, he won't hate him or her, but will hate Rudolf in his mother's place, since Asumu is dead. He later on left the Ushiromiya family and lived with his supposed maternal grandparents for six years. Though still on bad terms with his father, Rudolf, he would once in a while visit his younger sister Ange during her birthdays and on one occasion, got her hair ornaments from a crane game in an amusement park. Eventually he grew to appreciate his step-mother, Kyrie, but considers her more of an older sister than a mother. In 1984, Kyrie asked him to write letters to his cousins (including Maria, who he was not close enough with) which she delivers that year's family conference. In the same conference, Kyrie has stated that Battler has became very popular in school. When Asumu's parents passed away, he returned to the Ushiromiya family after six years. In 1986, it is his first time back in Rokkenjima to attend that year's family conference, which gives him a chance to renew his friendship with his cousins after a six year gap. Role in the Games Legend of the Golden Witch In Legend of the Golden Witch, most of the story is told through his point of view. In the beginning, he meets his cousins George and Maria (which is pretty much a first meeting between the two for when Battler and Maria last met, she had been three years old) at the airport. It has been six years since he has seen the rest of the Ushiromiya family and been to Rokkenjima after living with his mother's parents. He is very playful and jokes around with his cousins while at the mansion on Rokkenjima. He indulges in Maria's occult knowledge but is surprised when she goes into her creepy mode and he receives her wrath for not taking Beatrice seriously. In the end, because he does not believe in Beatrice and does not admit that her and her magic is real, the door to the Golden Land is closed. He costs everyone their paradise. Missing He is the fool who made the world where everyone could be happy come to nothing. Even though Beatrice is infuriated, for some reason she is enjoying herself immensely. It's as if he is an amusing toy she has obtained after one thousand years. I hope that you too can see this amusing fool soon. Turn of the Golden Witch In Turn of the Golden Witch, Battler is less prominent in the story itself, as he is observing the events along side Beatrice, whilst continuing to deny her. Although he is still part of the world taking place, it could be said the real him is with Beatrice. During the first half of the story, Battler is only significant through little interjections made by him and Beatrice, when events turn dissatisfying in the world they are observing. Eventually he plays a prominent role, when presented with a situation that occurs during the game and attempts to explain as possible by "human tricks." This is the point where he begins stating his famous line "Repeat it in Red." He is successful in disproving the need for magic in that mystery, which seems to stir Beatrice's arrogance. Unfortunately for Battler, it's the only one of many mysteries that take place during the game world that he is able to solve. This causes Battler to accept the witch and magic and become Beatrice's furniture for a while until he's ultimately killed at her banquet. At the end, Bernkastel's words cause him to become willing to fight Beatrice once again, knowing that even if he loses the game once more, it will continue endlessly with the objective of torturing him. Death In this arc, Battler winds up missing once more, after surviving October 5th. However, the description here shows not the broken body, but his determined stance to fight again. It's more focused on Meta-Battler as well. It is possible he survived and went on to become Tohya Hachijo. Missing. For a moment, he surrendered to the Witch but he had the determination to regain his willpower and fight again. Is Battler indeed a toy that's worth breaking to the Witch? That being the case, it is possible she will break him in moderation, fix him, then break him again. Her torture is meaningless if she kills him. She must alternate in tormenting him and letting him rest. Banquet of the Golden Witch In his third match with Beatrice, Battler's disgust with his opponent grows increasingly apparent and eventually leads to an interruption of the game proceedings. Meanwhile, the Battler on Rokkenjima spends much of this episode holed up in the guesthouse, making only brief forays outside with armed family members to search for people who go missing. Death Was shot to death by Ushiromiya Eva inside the mansion. The weapon was a Winchester from Kinzo's collection. Jessica lost her eyesight. Battler was with her. Wolf and sheep puzzle. Alliance of the Golden Witch Much of this episode is told from the perspective of Battler's sister Ange, which leads to a reduced role for Battler himself. Meanwhile, the Battler on Rokkenjima barricades himself in the guesthouse with his cousins while reports of bizarre murders filter in. It is revealed in this episode that Asumu is not his real mother. Missing. As he was held by the witch, he went to hell. But to the witch, that hell was the Golden Land End of the Golden Witch At the end of Episode 5, Battler is stabbed to death by the Red Truth. However, Meta creatures do not actually die; they just lose the concept of themselves in the sea of nothingness. Battler takes a hold of himself and, in that dimension out of time and space, he discovers the truth behind everything. Since the rule established by the first Game Master entails that whoever discovers the truth and the gold will succeed Beatrice, Battler is recognized by Lambdadelta, who becomes his guardian, as the Endless and Golden Sorcerer, BATTLER, and inherits from the dead Beatrice the world of the game board, making him it's new Territory Lord. With assistance from Beatrice's furniture, he uses the standpoint that he himself is the mastermind behind the game's murders to battle Erika's theory that Natsuhi is the culprit. Dawn of the Golden Witch In Dawn of the Golden Witch, he grows increasingly obsessed with reviving Beatrice, his attempts were successful as he had revived Beatrice, but she did not have the memories she had as a witch before she died, resulting her to be both childish and naïve, frustrating Battler. He attempts to demonstrate his understanding of the game but ends up inadvertently producing a Logic Error that Erika takes advantage of, and forfeits himself to her entirely. However, alongside the newly awakened Beatrice, he manages to ultimately defeat Erika and win the game. It is possible that he had purposely set himself up to enter the Logic Error in order to revive Beatrice's original personality. Requiem of the Golden Witch Battler only appears at the very beginning of Episode 7, in the Tea Party and in the epilogue. In the prologue of Requiem of the Golden Witch, BATTLER is at a funeral with Virgilia in a chapel. After Virgilia made her prayers, he placed a book inside a coffin. The book is a tale he dedicated to the Beatrice he could not reach in time: "Dawn of the Golden Witch". This is the most beautiful tale he could weave and is a secret between them that no one will ever defile. It is buried along with Beatrice. After a few glances at the coffin, he left the chapel with Virgilia. The Tea Party shows him to walking to a supposed trial created by Kinzo. In reality, Rudolf should convince him to escape from the island knowing every other member and servant has been killed. An interaction between Rudolf and Battler hasn't been shown. Battler is last shown walking to the Chapel, but he is never shown to arrive. Rudolf was killed by Eva while waiting for Battler to show up, therefore Rudolf did not kill him. His fate is unknown at the end of Episode 7. In the epilogue his meta-world character, the Endless Sorcerer, consoles Ange by telling her a happy ending tale of the 5th October 1986. That way, it is not really clear if the last game has Bernkastel or Battler as Game Master. Twilight of the Golden Witch As the game master he invites his sister Ange to the 8th game. However, Ange eventually found out that it was just a farce. Later on he was challenged by Bernkastel to solve her game. Together with Beatrice, he eventually found out that his game incarnation was the culprit along with his parents Kyrie and Rudolf. Relationships *Rudolf Ushiromiya - father *Kyrie Ushiromiya - biological mother *Asumu Ushiromiya - "mother" *Ange Ushiromiya - sister *Kinzo Ushiromiya - grandfather *Krauss Ushiromiya - uncle *Natsuhi Ushiromiya - aunt *Jessica Ushiromiya - cousin *Hideyoshi Ushiromiya - uncle *Eva Ushiromiya - aunt **EVA-Beatrice - opponent *George Ushiromiya - cousin *Rosa Ushiromiya - aunt *Maria Ushiromiya - cousin *Shannon - first love *Beatrice - opponent, step-cousin, wife *Lambdadelta - sorcerer guardian *Bernkastel - opponent *Erika Furudo - opponent *Stakes of Purgatory - furniture *Dlanor - friend, opponent, ally *Tohya Hachijo - new self *Black Battler - culprit form Powers and Abilities As a Human Battler is the rival Beatrice chose and the reason she created her game board. Battler fights on the white part of the chess board and is the representative of the human side, along with the first detective. He doesn't know the truth behind Beatrice's tale and views himself as a traveler on his way to find it, guided by Virgilia. He makes crushing the illusion of the witch his goal. His determination and rejection of magic provide him with a powerful anti-magic barrier. He is a worthy opponent; at times, even brilliant, thanks to the knowledge he's built up as an avid reader and his own talent. His piece on the game board is human and unaware of the Meta dimension, so it acts as an ordinary human of his age would. This piece is moved by Battler himself on the upper plane, with exception of most of episode 5, in which it was moved by Bernkastel. As one of the pieces inside the cat box, Battler has access to the truth of the tale. As the Golden Sorcerer During the ending of End of the Golden Witch, Battler is named the "Endless Sorcerer" and "Golden Sorcerer" by Lambdadelta after he inherits Beatrice's power and becomes the new Game Master. His weapon is a golden longsword, which grants him the power to wield the red and blue truth in battle. Because he knows the truth behind the game board, he is allowed to use the Golden Truth. But in order to win the game, he has to prove that he understands everything by weaving and winning a new tale against Erika and Bernkastel. Battler weaves two tales: *Dawn of the Golden Witch: The first of his tales is dedicated to Beatrice and her resurrection. It was challenged by Erika and was interrupted at the first twilight. *Twilight Of The Golden Witch: He dedicates this last tale to his sister, Ange. He invites Ange to the final party, hoping to end her turmoil, as well as inspire her to live on in the future as the final witch. Ange, EVA-Beatrice, Bernkastel, and Erika challenge this final tale. Trivia *In Dawn of the Golden Witch, it is stated by Lambdadelta and later confirmed in Twilight of the Golden Witch, that Battler has a third title, "Lord BATTLER, Golden Endless Sorcerer of Miracles", a title on par with Bernkastel's. Bernkastel is the witch who knows the true form of miracles and knows that they do not occur. She can only wait for one endlessly, whereas Battler is the sorcerer, who knows that miracles exist and can create one. This is why Bernkastel can't stand him and wants revenge. This affinity (and others) might also be the reason Bernkastel became interested in him in the first place. *In the manga, Battler spotted Rudolf and Kyrie's clothing in the shed on the first night and tried to get a better look. In the anime, it was Jessica. *A character in Ryukishi07's newest work, "Rose Guns Days" (Philip Butler), is a shout-out to Battler, though the two have no relations to one another. *Battler wears his cape much earlier in the manga. It materialized the moment he became a sorcerer in End of the Golden Witch. *Very little is known about Rokkenjima Prime Battler since all representations of him are from others point of view. The only thing known about him is that he survived the tragedy of Rokkenjima and suffered amnesia. He then became a writer known as Tohya Hachijo, who is also the actual forger of the tales of Rokkenjima. Gallery Battler_Ushiromiya.gif|Battler's anime concept Battlersorecerer.jpg|Sorcerer Battler Awds42.jpg|Special Artwork from Nocturne of Truth and Illusions. Battler.jpg|Battler in the original PC game S207 Nmu763idtn46i5K8T4i8J5Pbdqs94wTV.jpg|Battler Full Body Sprite ep6_2_but_EP6_2_but.png|Battler's Sorcerer Form Ougon Musou Kyoku Battler.png|Battler's Portrait in Ougon Musou Kyoku Ougon-battler.png|Battler as he appears in Ougon Musou Kyoku Ougon-battler-fullbody.jpg|Full-body artwork of Battler in Ougon Musou Kyoku Battler_Artwork.png|Battler early artwork. Quotes *"Well, who you love depends on the person. Isn't everything fine as long as it's someone who's fun to be with? Being with someone doesn't require any permission as long as the two people accept each other. If you worry about your parents or your family, then you lose. Don't forget that. You can't go out with someone with incomplete feelings." *"If you lined up all the things I wanted, all the gold in the world wouldn't be enough." *"Know that for reasoning to be possible, a trusting relationship is required." *"It's okay, you can stop talking like that. I'm not going to ask you for anything in return. Anyway, I want to apologize. And I want to talk with you. I don't even know where I should start." Category:Characters Category:Game Masters Category:Magicians/Sorcerers Category:Protagonists Category:Male Category:Ushiromiya Family Category:Witches